Taloquan, the former Alliance capital, is the latest key town victory by the Northern Alliance. The Taliban was going to try to make a stand here, after Friday's fall of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Also victories in the western province of Badghis, further on the road to Herat.

And progress toward Kabul in the southeast, 90 miles, through Bamiyan and Baghlan provinces.

http://www.afghanradio.com/news/2001/nov...

Northern Alliance 'take key towns'

BBC 11/11/01
The Northern Alliance say they have captured several key towns in northern Afghanistan and are advancing towards the capital, Kabul. Their gains are said to include the northern city of Taloqan, which served as the Alliance capital until they lost it to the Taleban in September 2000.

There is no independent confirmation, but the BBC Afghanistan correspondent Kate Clark says this success, if true, would cut off Taleban forces in the north-east. The opposition forces also claim to have seized the strategic mining town of Pul-e-Khumri, north of Kabul, and the town of Qala-e-Nau in the western province of Badghis.

Since their capture of Mazar-e-Sharif on Friday, the Northern Alliance say their troops have advanced 140 kilometres (90 miles) through Bamiyan and Baghlan provinces in a thrust to join up with frontline forces outside the capital.

The Alliance says Taleban commanders south of Pul-e-Khumri have defected, leaving the garrison in the town of Bamiyan - the Taleban's main base in the central highlands - in a weak position.

"We have now reached the gates of Kabul from the north and our troops can launch an attack for Kabul at any time," Northern Alliance spokesman Ashraf Nadeem told Reuters news agency on Sunday.

The Alliance says there was several hours of heavy fighting before they seized control of Qala-e-Nau.

This leaves the way open for an assault on the important western city of Herat. There has been no statement from the Taleban on the latest claims, although they say they have staged a tactical withdrawal from three northern provinces, according to the Afghan Islamic agency.

US bombers again hit Taleban positions near Kabul overnight, as Taleban militia set up new checkpoints in the city, stopping cars and searching passengers.

In Mazar-e-Sharif itself, the Northern Alliance says it has ordered all fighters to return to barracks, leaving law and order in the hands of a 300-strong security force. The Alliance says 90 Taleban fighters were killed and several hundred captured as the city was taken.

Residents say Mazar-e-Sharif is calm, with some shops open and so far no sign of the bloodshed which marked previous takeovers of the city. Some women are reported to have taken advantage of the lifting of restrictions imposed by the Taleban to discard their veils, while men wanting to shave their beards have formed queues at barber shops.

Northern Alliance commander General Abdul Rashid Dostum said women in Mazar-e-Sharif would now be allowed to go out to work or study.